Join Us: Research Celebration, April 20

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Posted on Friday, April 15, 2016

Westminster College will host the Undergraduate Research and Arts Celebration (URAC) featuring presentations and performances from more than 300 students from each department, April 20 from 8:30 a.m. – 3 p.m. throughout campus.

At 11 a.m. in Orr Auditorium, Dr. Nathan Carlin ’01, associate professor, McGovern Center for Humanities and Ethics at The University of Texas Health Science Center, will give the keynote address.

The event is free and open to the public.

“Westminster is home to a vibrant, dynamic, and creative community of learners,” said Dr. Patrick Krantz, director of the Drinko Center and event coordinator. “URAC showcases the outstanding work of many of Mother Fair’s brightest stars in the areas of science, mathematics, humanities, classics, and creative expression. We are enormously proud of their work.”

Approximately one out of every three students on campus is engaged in URAC, ranging from seniors to first years. Research exhibitions include presentations, poster sessions, poetry readings, performances, and art displays.

“For many, their work represents the culmination of years of study in the lab, library, studio, auditorium, and dorm room,” said Krantz. “For some, this will be their last formal presentation before walking across the Senior Terrace. These students had the audacity to ask a difficult question and the tenacity and skills to pursue the answer.”

Presentations include, “Tiny Living, Big Learning: Westminster’s Tiny House Project,” “The Groupon Effect: Using Groupon as a Marketing Tool for Small Businesses,” “The Art of the Carillon,” Adventures and Academics in the Amazon Regions of Iquitos, Peru,” “Water Quality in Western PA,” “Hope Cognition: Can you Catch Hope from Friends?”, “Marketing to Millennials: Paint Yourself Green,” “Why Do People Help: Self-Monitoring and Self-Sacrificing,” “Effects of Negative Mood Induction on Creativity,” “Muslim-American Identity Construction in a Small North-Eastern City,” among others. For a full list of presentations, visit www.westminster.edu/URAC.

“The most important thing that Westminster College does is to prepare her students as critical thinkers, reflective learners, effective leaders, and good citizens,” said Krantz. “The Undergraduate Research Advisory Council and The Drinko Center for Experiential Learning sincerely thank our campus community for their efforts in supporting our students.”